Teachers, administrators set to approve contract

MOORE — Moore’s 1,360 public school teachers will see their annual salary increase by about $700 and have several policy changes under a new contract expected to be approved later this month by both school administrators and the teacher’s union.

Moore Association of Classroom Teachers president Jill Dudley said “a majority” of the school’s teachers will see their annual salary increase by $700 under a plan tentatively agreed to by union officials and school administrators.

That increase — equal to about $58 per month — is part of a $1,000 teacher pay package approved this spring by the Oklahoma Legislature. However, only about 26 percent of the state’s public school teachers will receive the full, $1,000 raise.

“There was no mandate for a full, $1,000 teacher raise,” Dudley said. “All they (state lawmakers) did was raise the minimum salary schedule; that doesn’t apply to school districts who pay above the minimum schedule.”

Currently, 64 percent of the state’s pubic school districts — or 26 percent of public school teachers — follow the minimum salary schedule, said Adrianne Covington, a communications specialist for the Oklahoma Education Association.

The reason the percentage of teachers on minimum salary is so low, Covington said, is “because most of the school districts listed are really small, rural districts.”

At present, Moore, Norman and other area public school districts pay above the state’s minimum salary schedule.

“Moore is above the minimum salary schedule at every level,” Dudley said. “So we took last year’s pay schedule and added $700 to every step.”

Along with the $700 increase, Dudley said teachers would receive a step-pay increase for “whatever their step is.”

“They will see the $700 increase, plus everyone moves forward and gets their step increase,” she said.

For a beginning teacher, base pay would increase from $33,000 to $33,700, annually.

Moore superintendent Debra Arato said she supported the agreement.

“Teachers are absolutely the heart of what we do,” Arato said. “We need to be very competitive in the marketplace.”

Arato said most school districts in the Oklahoma City-Norman area pay above the minimum salary schedule.

“Moore is quite a bit over the minimum salary schedule,” she said. “And for career teachers, it’s an even greater margin.”

However some teachers won’t see the pay increase at all.

Dudley said teachers whose positions are funded by federal money won’t receive the $700 increase. “The state doesn’t send money for federally funded teachers,” she said.

But some teachers, Dudley said, would also receive an increase in supplemental pay.

In an effort to keep its speech pathologists, contract negotiators approved a $1,498 increase in supplemental pay for the position.

“There is a developing market for private speech pathologists,” Arato said. “We’re trying keep them here and to be competitive.”

Because their market is growing, Arato said many speech pathologists resign their positions and, instead, work as consultants to schools. “Often it’s more lucrative to be paid as a consultant than as a staff member. We’re trying to keep them on staff.”

Other teachers — those who teach additional class periods outside the school’s regular 7 1/4-hour day — will get $7,000 in supplemental pay, Dudley said.

“Because we now offer seven class periods, some teachers have six periods of teaching and one hour for planning. It’s another way to remain competitive.”

Dudley said that pay supplement would apply to some athletic coaches, and teachers in English, math, science and foreign languages.

“We’re trying to keep supplemental pay in the top 10 percent,” she said.

In addition to the pay increases, both officials said the new contract makes several changes, including new assignment and transfer articles, an increase in the number of students per classroom, and changes in the district’s personal leave policy.

“The agreement calls for changes in the assignment and transfer articles,” Dudley said. “Those changes will define and clarify the decision making process.”

Dudley said the union asked for the changes because of the district’s rapid growth.

“The new contract will benefit both teachers and principals in dealing with staff changes which take effect in 2008,” she said.
“That’s when the ninth-graders are moved and Southmoore High School opens.”

The contract, Dudley said, defines “assignment and transfer” and includes a list in priority order of considerations, “to determine who should get the assignment.”

“That didn’t exist before,” she said. “Not as a procedure. It’s now clearly defined.”

Some teachers also could see their class size increase.

“Moore is one of only two districts in the state which has class size restrictions in the teachers’ negotiated agreement,” Dudley said. “We had the ratio written into the contract for several years.”

However the district’s recent growth means Moore is “literally out of classrooms,” she said. “They (school administrators) have this size situation this year. They needed an exemption on class size.”

Dudley said the exemption — which is for one year only — will allow class size to go from 20 to 22 students in kindergarten through third grade.

“Fourth through sixth grades already had some exemptions,” she said. “The set size is 20 students, but they are allowed to increase those classes to 26 provided they equally distribute the students.”

For secondary classes — grades seven and above — the number of students per teacher was increased from 140 to 145 per day.

“We understand the need for flexibility,” Dudley said.

Arato agreed.

“The exemptions are really in relation to the fact we’re needing the classroom space,” she said. “But we will have a great many classrooms that are at or below the state mandate.”

School officials, Arato said, are trying to “be a little bit flexible and think about the needs of the students and the patrons.”
Still, even with the changes, both sides praised the new contract.

“It’s a good contract,” Arato said. “We worked together well.”

With negotiations over, both Dudley and Arato said the contact must still be approved by the district’s teachers and the Moore School Board.

A vote by teachers is set for this Thursday and Friday. School board members are expected to review the document at their next meeting, Aug. 13.